Ivo Karlovic beats Auger Aliassime in Maharashta Open

Until four years ago, Ivo Karlovic admittedly had been searching for a player whom he could hug without bending his knees. That’s what happens when you stand 211centimetres (6’11), need size-16 shoes and customised beds that are 2.4m long and 2.20m wide for being the tallest tennis player ever. Unless there’s John Isner (6’10) on the other side of the net – one of the few on the circuit he can embrace without crouching – Karlovic is content keeping a warm arm around his opponents whom he continues to deflate with a barrage of aces.

That’s truly no ‘tall’ claim as Karlovic’s opponent at the Tata Open, Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime, would vouch. What should make us grin is not the scoreline – Karlovic prevailed 6-4 7-5 – but the gulf in their age. Karlovic is 39 to Aliassime 18. And the Croat wasn’t the only senior pro to be enjoying a New Year bash in Pune. Simone Bolelli (33) swatted aside Denis Istomin (6-4 6-4) who, though only one year younger, remains a formidable name on the circuit. Karlovic understandably dominated the conversations yesterday.

At an age when he should have headed a coaching clinic, what incentive he has to keep going? Remember he’s a late bloomer – he didn’t make his Slam debut until 2003 at the age of 23. Karlovic used an unappealing word ‘fun’ to explain what drives him still. Maybe, it’s fun at his opponents’ expense as Aliassime may have realised.

Over the years, tennis is witness to huge serve machines – most of them are unfairly born in Croatia – but what makes Karlovic lethal is also the placement of his serves. For him, serving is not the mere animal relish to strike the ball with as much force as every joint of the body will allow. He changes the angles of his serves intelligently to add to that wanton power. One of Aliassime’s service returns flew off the edge of his racket to land on the roof.

If you continue to serve with that kind of precision, is there a pressing need to quit? Ironically, a certain section of the crowd were ignorant of who they were watching. “Come on, Cilic,” they bellowed even though the scoreboard flashed the players’ names in bright, white letters. At some level, it also reveals so much about the way Marin Cilic and Karlovic’scareers have unfolded.

In Croatia, Cilic remains the real deal, the one for Slams. Karlovic, like a distant cousin no one cares to know of, has flickered on and off, never reaching the heights once envisaged of him. He has taken time to add to the fine touches to his game. He volleyed beautifully against Aliassime, something he claims he always had, but realistically he wasn’t quite consistent with it.

By the time he realised there are fresh chambers to be explored in his tennis, his best years had passed him. Now going back to Bolleli, we should hear more from him when Italy’s Davis Cup team touch down to Kolkata this month. India will lay out grass courts to make most of home advantage, but Bolelli has hinted Italy will be up for it.

“Seppi (Andreas) has always been good on grass and me too. It depends what is the kind of grass there,” he said looking incredibly relaxed, which he attributes to his off-season training in Monte Carlo. And he made light of yesterday’s win as well as his senior citizenship in tennis. He said, “I didn’t play anything special. I didn’t miss a lot. Maybe, I returned a bit better. I didn’t make too many errors on key points.”

For those his age, Bolelli’s template of longevity is not tough to grasp. He insists if you have a good schedule and maintain a healthy lifestyle, “you can play till you are 36.” But there’s an honest admission – even if you follow these commandments diligently, playing five-setters in your mid-30s is always tough.

Ramanathan rocks after Myneni withdraws

Prajnesh Gunneswaran’s name may have been marked with a highlighter pen at the Tata Open, but it was Ramkumar Ramanathan that made India smile. It was nearly becoming another unremarkable tournament for India – not to forget this is the country’s only ATP World Tour event – after USA’s Michael Mmoh knocked Gunneswaran out. And then, Saketh Myneni had to withdraw owing to a foot injury.

Tragically, that’s been the story of Saketh’s stop-start career, ever derailed by injuries. India has a greater reason to worry – the Davis Cup tie against Italy is scheduled at the end of this month. How much Saketh’s body will be able to withstand, even if he regains fitness, is anyone’s guess.

And so the locals turned to Ramanathan to lift the gloom, and he responded with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over a player ranked below 100, Spain’s Marcel Granollers. Earlier, the top-seeded pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan registered an easy first- round win over Radu Albot- Malek Jaziri 6-1, 6-2 to live up to their top billing, while Leander Paes and M Reyes-Varela saw off H Podlipnik-Castillo-D Marrero 6-3, 6-4.

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